Stories from Monday, February 14, 2011

The word 'retirement' conjures images of rocking chairs, sunsets and shuffleboard -- and the big night out every week is a bus ride to the bingo hall. For young people and even those who are approaching the top of that hill, these ideas are about as attractive as a long, slow root canal without Novocaine...

A large crowd turned out Friday for the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce coffee, hosted by Pilot Rock Signs. Owner Denny Holton, foreground in neck brace, expressed his sincere thanks to the community of Cherokee and his "new family" at R.J. Thomas Manufacturing for all the help he has received since his former building received severe storm damage in a July tornado. Photo by Dan Whitney...

John C. Ambrose, 60, of Panama City Beach, Florida, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday morning, February 6, 2011. Family and his many friends will gather at the Chapel at the Beach, located in the Rosemary Beach Town Hall, on Saturday, February 12, 2011. ...

Mary Ellen Fox, age 68, of Quimby, passed away Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Funeral services will be Tuesday, February 15th, at 10:30 a.m. at the Quimby Baptist Church in Quimby. Dr. Robert Stout will officiate. Burial will be in the Quimby Cemetery. Visitation will be held 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday with the family present from 6-8 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com...

Monica Rose (Fuller) Jensen, age 81, passed away Friday, February 4, 2011, at the Spencer Hospital. Services were held Thursday, February 10th, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Burial was at Calvary Cemetery in Milford. Monica was born on July 24, 1929, in Cherokee County to John D. ...

Ricky Swain and Luiz Moreno of Aurelia are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, Sarah Elena Swain, born at 8:25 a.m. on February 5, 2011. Sarah weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Grandparents are Rick and Karen Swain and Armando and Elena Moreno, all of Cherokee. Great-grandparents are Dan and Dorie Kolker of Remsen, Rita Swain of Kingsley, and Rodrigo Moreno of San Angelo, Texas...

The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn boys rocked River Valley 71-41 in a non-conference weather make-up in Correctionville Feb. 7, and then nicked non-conference foe Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 51-48 in Marcus Feb. 8. Four Eagles hit double figures in the convincing win over River Valley, with Zach Specht leading the way with 16 points, followed by Jesse Kunzweiler 15, John Hoefling 14, and Neal Bunt 10...

The busy Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn girls snagged two recent non-conference wins to end regular season play, defeating River Valley 49-31 in a weather make-up in Correctionville Feb. 7, and clipping Hartley-Melvin Sanborn 53-49 in Marcus Feb. 8. Jalyn Doeden scored 14 points and Erica Dreckman 12 to lead the Eagles past the Lady Wolverines, while Stephanie Specht tallied eight, Kelsey Sears seven, and Reagan McDaniel six...

At the request of two North 11th Street property owners, the Cherokee City Council last week again revisited the City's proposed, already approved $346,000 North 11th Street reconstruction project from West Cedar Street to just north of West Bluff Street...

MARCUS - Pizza Ranch of Marcus has become an integral part of the community, beginning 25 years ago under the ownership of Marlin and Karen Gries, who owned the business for a few years until they sold it to Ted Hengelbeld and Marv Rietema, both of Sioux Center. For the past 12 1/2 years, the latter pair have been in a partnership with Ron and Melinda Rosewall. With that merger of ownership, Pizza Ranch has played a vital role in Marcus...

The 16th Annual Cherokee County Recognition Banquet will be held Saturday, March 12, 2011, at the Western Iowa Tech Community College Conference Center in Cherokee. The night will be filled with entertainment, starting at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour that will feature the music of Dr. David Klee. The social hour is a time to mingle with others from throughout the county and reconnect with friends or to get to know new members of our communities...

MAPLETON - The River Valley girls hammered Whiting 52-21 in Class 1A Regional girls basketball first-round action here Thursday night. River Valley (12-9) will play Saturday's Le Mars-Gehlen (14-5) vs. Remsen St. Mary's (13-10) winner Tuesday at Le Mars Gehlen. Remsen St. Mary's beat Kingsley-Pierson 42-27 in Kingsley Thursday night in first-round tourney action to advance to play Gehlen...

MARCUS - Erica Dreckman fired in 31 points on 16-31 shooting, including 5-10 three-pointers and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, to pace Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn's girls to a decisive 67-39 shellacking of Granville Spalding in Class 1A Regional Tournament first-round action here Thursday night...

IDA GROVE - Cherokee's enigmatic Braves torched a solid Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove team 84-63 in a regular season-ending, non-conference boys basketball tussle here Friday night in a weather make-up game. Three Braves notched double figures in the big win over the dangerous Falcons of the sprawling Western Valley Conference, who came into the game boasting a sparkling 16-3 record...